Name: Bohus Raka (West Coast Prawns) (home recipe)
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Swedish
Ingredients: 600g whole cold-water prawns in shell, pre-boiled (Pandalus borealis if available); 4 thick slices of light Swedish rye or pain de campagne; 60g Swedish butter, room temperature; 120g good homemade or store-bought mayonnaise; 1 lemon, halved; 1 small bunch dill; Maldon sea salt, black pepper; 1 cold pilsner per person, to accompany

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 15 minTotal 15 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

600g whole cold-water prawns in shell, pre-boiled (Pandalus borealis if available)
4 thick slices of light Swedish rye or pain de campagne
60g Swedish butter, room temperature
120g good homemade or store-bought mayonnaise
1 lemon, halved
1 small bunch dill
Maldon sea salt, black pepper
1 cold pilsner per person, to accompany

Method

Set the prawns out at room temperature for 10 minutes; ice-cold prawns hide their sweetness.
Butter the bread generously to the edges. Do not toast it; the Gothenburg version is buttered fresh bread.
Mound a third of the mayonnaise on each plate alongside the bread.
Pile the prawns in a small mountain in the centre of each plate. Tuck dill sprigs through the pile.
Cut a lemon half into wedges. Place one beside each plate.
Eat standing if you can. Twist off each prawn head, pinch the tail, slide the meat free.
Drag the prawn through mayonnaise, place on buttered bread, season with sea salt and pepper, squeeze of lemon.

Tip from the editors. The shells are part of the ritual; lay them out on the table as you go and sip the cold pilsner between batches. This is not a tidy meal.